Right to Bear Arms - Home Protection


  1. one must believe the intruder meant harm
  2. one must believe the intruder was going to commit a felony
  3. one must not have threatened the intruder or harmed
  4. may protect one self or others currently in residence
  5. need to annouce presence
  6. stand your ground clause says that you have the to resort to deadly force if you are under attack
  7. no obligation to attempt to get away
  8. states such as below have adopted some version of the Castle Doctrine (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Conn. , Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming)
http://www.totalcriminaldefense.com/overview/castle-doctrine.aspxM



  1. Maryland has an unrestricted firearm ownership
  2. Assualt pistols are prohibited
  3. machine gun ownership - registered
  4. firearm law
  5. right to self defense - no true castle doctrine in effect
  6. open carry - prohibited in all public places
  7. concealeded carry - license required
  8. vehicle carry - rifles and shot guns must be unloaded at all times
  9. state parks - tolerated in certain areas
  10. resturants serving alcohol - permitted
  11. a person carrying in maryland requires a license
  12. must file paperwork
  13. will not recognize permits from other states
  14. a person may transport an unloaded handgun in a secure case if he is traveling to a recognized shooting competition, bonafide gun show, hunting exercise, or some other gun-related even
http://www.gunlawguide.com/Maryland.




  1. good and substial reason to obtain a handgun permit
  2. some people say its unconstutional
  3. “A citizen may not be required to offer a `good and substantial reason’ why he should be permitted to exercise his rights,” Legg wrote. “The right’s existence is all the reason he needs.”
  4. Plaintiff Raymond Woollard obtained a handgun permit after fighting with an intruder in his Hampstead home in 2002, but was denied a renewal in 2009 because he could not show he had been subject to “threats occurring beyond his residence.”
  5. “We’re not against the idea of a permit process, but the licensing system has to acknowledge that there’s a right to bear arms.” - Alan Gura
  6. http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/03/05/md-gun-law-found-unconstitutional/



1642
“Noe man able to bear arms to goe to church or Chappell or any considerable distance from home without fixed gunn and 1 Charge at least of powder and Shott.” (Maryland Statute of 1642) Presumably this included indentured servants and blacks as well as whites – as it did in Massachusetts. Every able man had to have a gun and carry it with him whenever he left home.
1715
“And be it Enacted, by the Authority, Advice and Consent aforesaid, That no Negro or other Slave, within this Province, shall be permitted to carry any Gun or any other offensive Weapon, from off their Master's Land, without Licence from their said Master…." (Archives of Maryland 75:268 XXXIII) The first Maryland restriction on carrying weapons applied only to blacks and/or slaves – as slaves were being imported in larger numbers, and neither blacks nor slaves were citizens. A license from their master is equivalent to a note from a parent.
1776
“That the Inhabitants of Maryland are entitled to the Common Law of England … and to the benefit of such of the English statutes as existed on the Fourth day of July, seventeen hundred and seventy-six.” (Maryland Declaration of Rights, Art. 5a in both the original (1776) and current Maryland Constitutions) Under English Common Law around the time our Maryland and U.S. Constitutions were being written, it was not only a right to have and carry arms for self-defense but it was considered the duty of citizens to protect themselves as well as others: “The right of his majesty's Protestant subjects, to have arms for their own defence, and to use them for lawful purposes, is most clear and undeniable. It seems, indeed, to be considered, by the ancient laws of this kingdom, not only as a right, but as a duty; for all the subjects of the realm, who are able to bear arms, are bound to be ready, at all times, to assist the sheriff, and other civil magistrates, in the execution of the laws and the preservation of the public peace.” Opinion of the Recorder of London,
1831
A statewide law that requires free blacks (only) to obtain a license from a local court for possession or carry (open or concealed) of firearms. (Archives of Maryland, 213:448) This is clearly racist. Why did it happen? It was a reaction to the Turner Rebellion of slaves in Virginia earlier that year.
1857
The ‘Dred Scott’ U.S. Supreme Court decision, by Marylander Justice Roger Taney, explains what rights a citizen was recognized to have at that time, and that negroes were not citizens: “It would give to persons of the negro race, who were recognized as citizens in any one State of the Union, the right to enter every other State whenever they pleased, singly or in companies, without pass or passport, and without obstruction, to sojourn there as long as they pleased, to go where they pleased at every hour of the day or night without molestation, unless they committed some violation of law for which a white man would be punished; and it would give them the full liberty of speech in public and in private upon all subjects upon which its own citizens might speak; to hold public meetings upon political affairs, and to keep and carry arms wherever they went.” [emphasis added]
1866
Concealed carry is banned for a few years, but open carry is not. (Archives of Maryland 389:468-9) This was the first time a Maryland restriction on carry of weapons for citizens could be found. It is a reasonable assumption that this law was passed partly as a result of the assassination of President Lincoln in 1865, and as a result of slavery being abolished at the 1864 Maryland Constitutional Convention. Since blacks could no longer be selectively legislated against, the 1831 law was dropped and the concealed carry prohibition was made general – but could be selectively enforced against blacks or any other chosen
1884
At this time concealed carry, with no permit required, is legal again. Concealed carry is only illegal when arrested and charged with another crime. (Archives of Maryland, 390:522-3) It suggests that the 1866 ban on concealed carry may have been struck down or rescinded as unconstitutional.
1904
After more than 250 years of legal concealed carry for all citizens, with no permit required, concealed carry is again made illegal in Maryland, but this time with the exception of “carrying such weapon as a reasonable precaution against apprehended danger.”(Archives of Maryland 209:4025-6) Probably the exception was made to allow selective enforcement against blacks only, while keeping it from being a total ban that would be unconstitutional. Clayton Cramer in his 1995 testimony to the Michigan House Judiciary Committee notes: “In a few cases, we have direct and explicit statements that these laws were passed to disarm feared minority groups, without violating the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection. Florida Supreme Court Justice Buford's concurring opinion in Watson v. Stone (Fla. 1941) is perhaps the most blunt:
1972
Open carry of weapons in Maryland requires a permit for the first time ever

  1. attack against any intruder using deadly force
  2. right to stand your ground
  3. force should be allowable if feel threatened
  4. law abiding citzens should be allowed to protect themselves
  5. presumption / fear of death
  6. 40-45% of surveyed homes had a gun
  7. 47-53 million
  8. 30-34% of adults owned a gun
  9. 70-80 mill
  10. 17-19% of adults own a hand gun
  11. 40-45 mill
  12. 42% household have a gun
  13. 30% individuals
  14. 47% males
  15. 33% white
  16. 18% other
  17. 41% republican
  18. 27% independent
  19. 23% democrat
  20. 67% own to protect
  21. 66% own for recreational use - target
  22. 41% own for recreational use - hunting
  23. 42% american will commit a violent crime
  24. 83% will be the victim of a violent crime
  25. 52% will be the victim more than once
  26. 30% of criminals in the federal state prision used a gun to commit crime
  27. in 2007 only 0.5% of death were due to firearms
  28. 0.4% hospitalization were due to firearms
  29. http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp#crime

Survey Results:
95% of surveyed said you should be able to use deadly force against an intruder
48% said that the control of guns is unconstitutional
43% said that you should not have to provide good and substantial reason to obtain a gun permit
67% believe maryland is closer to prohibiting guns completely
90% believe you should have the right to use a firearm in self defense
85% believe the government violates the constutional